HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION 7 



the cases which he had met with in his neighbour- 

 hood ; and in Germany, at the Berlin abattoir, Bongert 

 investigated many cases. Both of these writers came 

 to the conclusions arrived at by Johne and Frothing- 

 ham, and considered the disease to be tubercular in 

 nature. 



In the same year B. Bang published an account of 

 his inquiries into the disease in Denmark, and this 

 authority must be credited with making the first real 

 advance in our knowledge of this condition since the dis- 

 covery of the acid-fast bacilli by Johne and his colleague. 

 Bang first established the fact that the disease is a 

 specific infection distinct from tuberculosis, and he 

 suggested the name chronic pseudo-tuberculous (or 

 paratuberculous) enteritis. He showed the existence 

 of the disease among red Danish cattle and other 

 native breeds, as well as in imported tubercle-free 

 J erseys. * 



By feeding two calves with the mucous membrane 

 of the intestine of an infected animal, he was able to 

 reproduce the disease. His attempts to cultivate the 

 bacillus and produce lesions in guinea-pigs and rabbits 

 were negative, and he decided that the condition was 

 not a true tuberculosis. He also demonstrated its 

 chronic nature and the long period of incubation. In 

 the same year Bang gave an account of the disease 

 before the National Veterinary Association at Liver- 

 pool, and showed specimens in illustration. He pre- 

 dicted that it would be recognized in this country, 

 and mentioned that he had found it in tubercle-free 

 Jersey cows imported from the Channel Islands. In 

 the discussion that followed this paper, many of the 

 practitioners present stated that they had been aware 

 of the condition in their practices, but had not ascribed 

 it to its true cause, intestinal strongyles usually being 



